In spite of global warming, autumn leaf changing season in the northern hemisphere has arrived. The Japanese people have a special word for the leaf changing season, Kouyou. The leaf colors around here are magnificent and despite the beauty, remind me that another year is passing. In another 3 short weeks the mountain roads where I ride bike and where elderly people forage for wild mushrooms will be closed until late next spring. My thermal underwear is ready to wear, having been located at the back of the closet where it had remained comfortably hidden underneath our camping gear, behind a suitcase we haven't used in 8 years.
This year has been a wonderful success for me. My repertoire of Japanese kanji symbols has increased by 50%, from 4 to 6. Even better, I can almost understand what the neighbor's 3 year old is saying to me. (Do you want to eat some of this? Child holds out a piece of slimy looking cheese in his dirt encrusted fingers)
Can an adult be comfortable operating at this level, living in a child like state, mostly unable to communicate, as if I was an alien that just landed on earth? Say, did you ever notice that TV and movie aliens always know how to speak English? Just once it would be fun to see what would happen if they only spoke French, or Japanese. What would Captain Kirk do?
More than a year after having arrived here I can report that I am comfortable living in Japan, despite the language difficulties. For once, my hesitation to form interpersonal relationships is actually a benefit. I have formed no relationships and don't mind it. My neighbors, mostly elderly women who hang out and gossip all day long, keep a close eye on me. How do you say "what's that crazy, lazy, non working, bike riding, foreigner doing today?" in Japanese?
My wife and daughter also like it here in an isolated part of rural Japan. Guess we'll stay. It's a great place to hide!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Respect
Today is respect for the elderly day in Japan. It's a national holiday. To celebrate, my daughter made pudding for her grandma. Old people love soft foods, ya know.
The real celebration was when we loaded the family into the Japo mini car, picked up grandma at her house, and drove up the hill to her favorite public hot bath. Actually, its a nice place. Everything is clean and the water is from real volcanic mountain springs, so it feels and smells good, if you like sulfer.
After bathing (don't worry, men bathe in a different room than women) we all went out to lucnh at the best restaurant in town. In truth, where this hot bath place is, there's only one restaurant. Located right across the street from the hot bath place you find the restaurant. They serve traditional Japanese lunch fare, mainly gigantic bowls of soup with noodles.
The place was crowded and everyone was "drinking" soup, as the Japanese say. In reality, they slurp the soup and they slurp it loudly. It was like a symphony of slurping coming from every table in the restaurant. We shared a table with one fellow because there wasn't an empty table available for us. My ears are still ringing from his slurping, approximately 9.7 on the slurp Richter scale.
My mother in law loved the place, loved the soup, loved the slurping. For $30 of US currency all 4 of us got a bowl of tasteless broth, some cabbage, a hand full of noodles, a few pieces of onion, 2 pieces of tofu, and a small amount of greasy meat. Out of respect for the elderly, I didn't complain. At least not when she was in close proximity.
The real celebration was when we loaded the family into the Japo mini car, picked up grandma at her house, and drove up the hill to her favorite public hot bath. Actually, its a nice place. Everything is clean and the water is from real volcanic mountain springs, so it feels and smells good, if you like sulfer.
After bathing (don't worry, men bathe in a different room than women) we all went out to lucnh at the best restaurant in town. In truth, where this hot bath place is, there's only one restaurant. Located right across the street from the hot bath place you find the restaurant. They serve traditional Japanese lunch fare, mainly gigantic bowls of soup with noodles.
The place was crowded and everyone was "drinking" soup, as the Japanese say. In reality, they slurp the soup and they slurp it loudly. It was like a symphony of slurping coming from every table in the restaurant. We shared a table with one fellow because there wasn't an empty table available for us. My ears are still ringing from his slurping, approximately 9.7 on the slurp Richter scale.
My mother in law loved the place, loved the soup, loved the slurping. For $30 of US currency all 4 of us got a bowl of tasteless broth, some cabbage, a hand full of noodles, a few pieces of onion, 2 pieces of tofu, and a small amount of greasy meat. Out of respect for the elderly, I didn't complain. At least not when she was in close proximity.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
That Slater Flight Attendant
Why in the world would anyone make a hero out of this Slater fellow who cursed out a planeload of paying customers and then stormed away like a 5 year old who didn't get a cookie he wanted? In Japan, I guarantee, this behavior would be seen as exceedingly shameful, as so it should. Certainly his union cohorts will support him, but that doesn't mean that he is in the right.
I suppose we can accept his claim that the passenger was rude, cursing, and had hit him with a suitcase causing a cut. Being hit with the bag could easily have been accidental and even Slater does not claim it was intentional. Walk up behind someone taking a heavy item out of the bin and you are asking to get smacked in the head as they struggle to pull it down. People don't have eyes in the backs of their heads.
However, we do not know whether or not anything Slater claims is the truth, as none of the passengers has corroborated his story about the rude passenger.
Even if the passenger was rude and even if many passengers are rude, can you blame people for getting upset? What other business model, other than an airline, has paying customers 1) show up 2-3 hours in advance to wait in a check in line, 2) requires customers to wait in another security check line in order to have their personal possessions searched through, 3) provides the choice of being frisked like a criminal or electronically strip searched, 4) routinely offers severe delays or service cancellations, and 5) offers uncomfortable seating and bad food after requiring that food and drink are confiscated at the so called security check point?
People are also cooped up and tired and nervous about missing connections. Did Slater notice these sorts of things? Does he care or understand the pressure of being a passenger? Oh, and we pay through the nose for all of this abuse. Flying is really not so cheap most of the time. People get badly treated and they are rightfully upset at times. Flight attendants need to understand this and learn to deal with it.
Slater's focus was on himself. Someone DARED not obey his command to keep seated. You know, we are all supposed to obey like trained animals when directed to pretend that it is somehow dangerous to grab something out of the overhead bin in the 60 seconds prior to arriving at the gate, when taxi-ing at 1-2 miles an hour.
I can just picture an enraged flight attendant charging down the aisle to confront the disobedient passenger about accessing the overhead bin. I'll bet Slater used his best command voice, you know the one that people usually only use on a dog, prior to being told off by the passenger. And if he did speak rudely to a paying customer about an obviously meaningless government imposed rule, then he deserved to get cussed out. Good for the passenger.
Sounds like Slater left the cut on his head stay open and bleeding throughout the entire flight, even when serving food and beverages. One report said he is HIV positive, and if it's true, he is criminally reckless for leaving the cut open. Even if not HIV positive, he left the cut open to get attention. Similarly, based on his prior web postings, his X rated tirade and other actions seem to be pre-planned in order to maximize attention on himself. Such a self centered person! It's all very childish behavior and nothing he did is to be admired.
I suppose we can accept his claim that the passenger was rude, cursing, and had hit him with a suitcase causing a cut. Being hit with the bag could easily have been accidental and even Slater does not claim it was intentional. Walk up behind someone taking a heavy item out of the bin and you are asking to get smacked in the head as they struggle to pull it down. People don't have eyes in the backs of their heads.
However, we do not know whether or not anything Slater claims is the truth, as none of the passengers has corroborated his story about the rude passenger.
Even if the passenger was rude and even if many passengers are rude, can you blame people for getting upset? What other business model, other than an airline, has paying customers 1) show up 2-3 hours in advance to wait in a check in line, 2) requires customers to wait in another security check line in order to have their personal possessions searched through, 3) provides the choice of being frisked like a criminal or electronically strip searched, 4) routinely offers severe delays or service cancellations, and 5) offers uncomfortable seating and bad food after requiring that food and drink are confiscated at the so called security check point?
People are also cooped up and tired and nervous about missing connections. Did Slater notice these sorts of things? Does he care or understand the pressure of being a passenger? Oh, and we pay through the nose for all of this abuse. Flying is really not so cheap most of the time. People get badly treated and they are rightfully upset at times. Flight attendants need to understand this and learn to deal with it.
Slater's focus was on himself. Someone DARED not obey his command to keep seated. You know, we are all supposed to obey like trained animals when directed to pretend that it is somehow dangerous to grab something out of the overhead bin in the 60 seconds prior to arriving at the gate, when taxi-ing at 1-2 miles an hour.
I can just picture an enraged flight attendant charging down the aisle to confront the disobedient passenger about accessing the overhead bin. I'll bet Slater used his best command voice, you know the one that people usually only use on a dog, prior to being told off by the passenger. And if he did speak rudely to a paying customer about an obviously meaningless government imposed rule, then he deserved to get cussed out. Good for the passenger.
Sounds like Slater left the cut on his head stay open and bleeding throughout the entire flight, even when serving food and beverages. One report said he is HIV positive, and if it's true, he is criminally reckless for leaving the cut open. Even if not HIV positive, he left the cut open to get attention. Similarly, based on his prior web postings, his X rated tirade and other actions seem to be pre-planned in order to maximize attention on himself. Such a self centered person! It's all very childish behavior and nothing he did is to be admired.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Isogashi
Isogashi means busy in Japanese. As I have been busy I have not made time for any blog posts in nearly a month.
My wife has taken on a new job as a nurse at a hospital in the neighboring town. I drive her in the mornings, which takes about an hour. Plus, our daughter's school closes early one day a week, there is at least 1 or 2 vacation days per month, and my daughter stayed home with the obligatory cold for a couple of days. Each afternoon I either babysit or accompany a 7 year old to either piano lessons, swimming, or batmitton. Don't forget the French lessons every other Saturday. Also, I am doing more housework than ever.
Also, I have begun taking Japanese lessons twice a week using Skype, a free phone service. My wife had signed me up to take Japanese for beginners at the local University. They actually had an English language advertisement. After taking the course, I will be ready to begin my life in Japan, or so they said. In the Japanese way, one can only begin the course on one specific day each year and it was necessary to apply during the month of October. They responded quickly, letting me know that my Visa was not the right kind of Visa, so I am only eligible to take the course offered to people who already speak Japanese and want to progress to an advanced level.
I am not complaining at all. They said no and I made other arrangement. In summary, it just is a fact of life for me now that I have less free time. Isogashi people everywhere will have no sympathy whatsoever and I don't blame them. Busy is a subjective feeling.
Does anyone miss these blogs? Doubtful, but just saying why they are less frequent.
My wife has taken on a new job as a nurse at a hospital in the neighboring town. I drive her in the mornings, which takes about an hour. Plus, our daughter's school closes early one day a week, there is at least 1 or 2 vacation days per month, and my daughter stayed home with the obligatory cold for a couple of days. Each afternoon I either babysit or accompany a 7 year old to either piano lessons, swimming, or batmitton. Don't forget the French lessons every other Saturday. Also, I am doing more housework than ever.
Also, I have begun taking Japanese lessons twice a week using Skype, a free phone service. My wife had signed me up to take Japanese for beginners at the local University. They actually had an English language advertisement. After taking the course, I will be ready to begin my life in Japan, or so they said. In the Japanese way, one can only begin the course on one specific day each year and it was necessary to apply during the month of October. They responded quickly, letting me know that my Visa was not the right kind of Visa, so I am only eligible to take the course offered to people who already speak Japanese and want to progress to an advanced level.
I am not complaining at all. They said no and I made other arrangement. In summary, it just is a fact of life for me now that I have less free time. Isogashi people everywhere will have no sympathy whatsoever and I don't blame them. Busy is a subjective feeling.
Does anyone miss these blogs? Doubtful, but just saying why they are less frequent.
Asoryu-san
Where we live is a wonderful place for cycling, especially if you are like me and ride in the hills and mountains. The autumn colors are beautiful, but it is late in the fall and the cold weather has already begun. Soon, it will be too uncomfortable outside to do much cycling. In preparation for the end of cycling, I joined a local health club.
Wait, not so fast. You can't just join. You have to take an introductory class to learn about club rules and how the equipment works. It only takes about an hour, and I understood almost 3 words that the guy said. Inconveniently, the class is offered just once a month. Just as flexible is the terms of the membership. Everyone has one choice, you can join for a year, and that's it. Also, your one year membership begins last year on April 1st, regardless of when you actually join. April Fools Day seems appropriate for a health club membership when you think about the fact that most people who join will go 2 or 3 times and then get lazy and flop on the couch to watch TV.
Complaining about the ridiculous and inflexible rules is a waste of time as there is only 1 health club in town and no competitors within a 45 minute drive. As the annual cost is just $25 or so, why complain? Soooo cheap, but its subsidized by the local city and probably costs a lot more if you consider what tax payers contribute.
During the introductory class they type up a membership card for anyone who paid the annual fee. On the membership application I carefully wrote my name in Japan's Katakana language, the one they use for foreign words. Only the Katakana symbol for "N" and the symbol for the sound "So" are very similar and I apparently didn't write my "N" clearly enough. From now on, I will be known at the gym as Asoryu instead of Andoryu (Andrew). You can call me Aso for short.
Wait, not so fast. You can't just join. You have to take an introductory class to learn about club rules and how the equipment works. It only takes about an hour, and I understood almost 3 words that the guy said. Inconveniently, the class is offered just once a month. Just as flexible is the terms of the membership. Everyone has one choice, you can join for a year, and that's it. Also, your one year membership begins last year on April 1st, regardless of when you actually join. April Fools Day seems appropriate for a health club membership when you think about the fact that most people who join will go 2 or 3 times and then get lazy and flop on the couch to watch TV.
Complaining about the ridiculous and inflexible rules is a waste of time as there is only 1 health club in town and no competitors within a 45 minute drive. As the annual cost is just $25 or so, why complain? Soooo cheap, but its subsidized by the local city and probably costs a lot more if you consider what tax payers contribute.
During the introductory class they type up a membership card for anyone who paid the annual fee. On the membership application I carefully wrote my name in Japan's Katakana language, the one they use for foreign words. Only the Katakana symbol for "N" and the symbol for the sound "So" are very similar and I apparently didn't write my "N" clearly enough. From now on, I will be known at the gym as Asoryu instead of Andoryu (Andrew). You can call me Aso for short.
Hakodate
Sorry for the lack of new posts. I'll explain later.
My wife and I went to Hakodate to see a concert and spend a day or so sight seeing. Hakodate is a nice seaside city on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido and we were lucky to be there for some beautiful autumn weather prior to the beginning of Hokkaido's horrifically cold winter weather.
The concert was Japanese shamisen music performed by an artist called Agatsuma. We loved it! He's great, playing a traditional Japanese instrument that looks like a banjo of sorts but he can play beautiful modern sounding music. Buy a CD or download to your IPod!
After the show we went to eat sushi at a great sushi restaurant. Hakodate specializes in seafood, especially crab and squid. It was amazingly good. 90% of what we ate was a new and unique (for us) type of sushi dish that we had never tried before. Delicious food in a peaceful setting.
After we ate my wife told the hostess that we needed a taxi. Within less than 5 minutes, we left the restaurant and the taxi was waiting for us. The driver was an older man who told us stories about the city, including the devastating fire from the 1930s that burnt 80% of town. Then, he drove us up to the top of Mount Hakodate which gave us a beautiful overlook of the city at night. This mountain is right on the edge of town and I would guess it is about the same altitude as Mount Tamalpias near San Francisco, maybe a little less high. The driver shut off his meter, walked us out to the best look out spot and took some photos for us. No extra charge.
Try asking a cab driver in America, if he understands English, for a similar treatment.
The train ride from where we live to Hakodate goes about 600 feet below sea level through a roughly 20 mile long tunnel that runs between Japan's main island where we live and Hokkaido. Its an engineering marvel. Just like Boston's big dig, only unlike the Boston tunnel the cement didn't fall off the ceiling and kill anyone right after Japan's tunnel to Hokkaido was built.
My wife and I went to Hakodate to see a concert and spend a day or so sight seeing. Hakodate is a nice seaside city on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido and we were lucky to be there for some beautiful autumn weather prior to the beginning of Hokkaido's horrifically cold winter weather.
The concert was Japanese shamisen music performed by an artist called Agatsuma. We loved it! He's great, playing a traditional Japanese instrument that looks like a banjo of sorts but he can play beautiful modern sounding music. Buy a CD or download to your IPod!
After the show we went to eat sushi at a great sushi restaurant. Hakodate specializes in seafood, especially crab and squid. It was amazingly good. 90% of what we ate was a new and unique (for us) type of sushi dish that we had never tried before. Delicious food in a peaceful setting.
After we ate my wife told the hostess that we needed a taxi. Within less than 5 minutes, we left the restaurant and the taxi was waiting for us. The driver was an older man who told us stories about the city, including the devastating fire from the 1930s that burnt 80% of town. Then, he drove us up to the top of Mount Hakodate which gave us a beautiful overlook of the city at night. This mountain is right on the edge of town and I would guess it is about the same altitude as Mount Tamalpias near San Francisco, maybe a little less high. The driver shut off his meter, walked us out to the best look out spot and took some photos for us. No extra charge.
Try asking a cab driver in America, if he understands English, for a similar treatment.
The train ride from where we live to Hakodate goes about 600 feet below sea level through a roughly 20 mile long tunnel that runs between Japan's main island where we live and Hokkaido. Its an engineering marvel. Just like Boston's big dig, only unlike the Boston tunnel the cement didn't fall off the ceiling and kill anyone right after Japan's tunnel to Hokkaido was built.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Eye-talian
We went out to dinner last night. There's an Italian restuarant next to my mother in law's house which is about a block away. It's called "Green Dolphin". Since we moved here in July I have wanted to eat there and get some delicious Italian food as the Japanese cuisine, even though delicious, can become tedious.
As any married man can tell you, his wishes are secondary, and for three and a half months we went to a large number of other restaurants that either my wife or daughter wanted to go to. We even went to this horrible Denny's like chain restaurant called Gasto simply because they give kids a trinket with their meal. You get food and it gives you gas too.
That was all behind me last night. Finally, my wish came true.
On a Thursday night we were the only customers. The menu was lengthy, and it got really lengthy when I was reading it as I read verrrrrrrrrrry slooooooooowly in Japanese. The menu had sections for hamburg steak dishes, gratin dishes, chicken skewers, whiskey and other booze, ice cream, ramen noodle soup, oh and yes in case I forgot to mention, pasta. You can also get pizza, Indian nan, or Spanish paella if you order a day in advance.
Everything tasted OK in a Japanese sort of way. Rather than real Italian cuisine that I craved, it was actually Eye-talian, or Japanese cuisine labeled as Italian, but really Japanese cuisine in disguise.
I guess that's why the family likes to ignore dear old Dad when it comes to choosing a restaurant here in small town Japan.
As any married man can tell you, his wishes are secondary, and for three and a half months we went to a large number of other restaurants that either my wife or daughter wanted to go to. We even went to this horrible Denny's like chain restaurant called Gasto simply because they give kids a trinket with their meal. You get food and it gives you gas too.
That was all behind me last night. Finally, my wish came true.
On a Thursday night we were the only customers. The menu was lengthy, and it got really lengthy when I was reading it as I read verrrrrrrrrrry slooooooooowly in Japanese. The menu had sections for hamburg steak dishes, gratin dishes, chicken skewers, whiskey and other booze, ice cream, ramen noodle soup, oh and yes in case I forgot to mention, pasta. You can also get pizza, Indian nan, or Spanish paella if you order a day in advance.
Everything tasted OK in a Japanese sort of way. Rather than real Italian cuisine that I craved, it was actually Eye-talian, or Japanese cuisine labeled as Italian, but really Japanese cuisine in disguise.
I guess that's why the family likes to ignore dear old Dad when it comes to choosing a restaurant here in small town Japan.
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